1. THE STING OF DEATH

I declare to you
Brothers and sisters
That flesh and blood cannot
Inherit the kingdom of God
Nor does the perishable
Inherit the imperishable

Listen, I tell you a mystery:
We will not all sleep
But we will all be changed
In a flash, in the twinkling of an eye
At the last trumpet
For the trumpet will sound
The dead will be raised imperishable
And we will be changed

For the perishable
Must clothe itself
With the imperishable
And the mortal with immortality

When the perishable has been clothed
With the imperishable
And the mortal with immortality
Then the saying that is written
Will come true:

“Death has been
Swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin
And the power of sin is the law

But thanks be to God!
He gives us the victory
Through our Lord Jesus Christ
Therefore, my dear
Brothers and sisters
Stand firm
Let nothing move you

Always give yourselves
Fully to the work
Of the Lord
Because you know
That your labor
In the Lord
Is not in vain

For the perishable
Must clothe itself
With the imperishable
And the mortal with immortality

When the perishable has been clothed
With the imperishable
And the mortal with immortality
Then the saying that is written
Will come true:

“Death has been
Swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”


2. A WARNING AGAINST HYPOCRISY

You must be careful to do
Everything they tell you

But do not do
What they do

For they do not practice
What they preach

You must be careful to do
Everything they tell you

But do not do
What they do

For they do not practice
What they preach


3. YOUR INHERITANCE

Come, you who are
Blessed by my Father
Take your inheritance

The kingdom prepared for you
Since the creation of the world

For I was hungry
And you gave me something to eat
I was thirsty and you gave me
Something to drink

Come, you who are
Blessed by my Father
Take your inheritance

The kingdom prepared for you
Since the creation of the world

For I was a stranger
And you invited me in
I needed clothes
And you clothed me
I was sick and you
Looked after me
I was in prison
And you came to visit me


4. ...AND THEN THE END WILL COME

Watch out that no one deceives you
For many will come in my name
Claiming, ‘I am the Messiah’
And will deceive many

You will hear of wars
And rumors of wars
But see to it
That you are not alarmed

Such things must happen
But the end is still to come
Nation will rise against nation
And kingdom against kingdom

There will be famines
And earthquakes in various places
All these are the beginning
Of birth pains

Then you will be handed over
To be persecuted and put to death
And you will be hated
By all nations because of me

At that time many will turn
Away from the faith
And will betray
And hate each other

And many false prophets
Will appear and
Deceive many people

Because of the increase
Of wickedness
The love of most
Will grow cold

But the one who stands firm
To the end, will be saved
And this gospel of the kingdom
Will be preached

In the whole world
As a testimony
To all nations
And then the end will come


5. THE LIVING AND THE DEAD

Therefore, since Christ
Suffered in his body
Arm yourselves also
With the same attitude

Because whoever suffers
In the body
Is done with sin
As a result

They do not live
The rest of their earthly lives
For evil human desires
But rather for the will of God

For you have
Spent enough time
In the past
Doing what pagans choose to do

Living in debauchery
Lust, drunkenness
Orgies, carousing
And detestable idolatry

They are surprised
That you do not join them
In their reckless, wild living
And they heap abuse on you

But they will have to
Give account to him
Who is ready to judge
The living and the dead

For this is the reason
The gospel was preached
Even to those
Who are now dead

So that they might be
Judged according to
Human standards
In regard to the body

But live according
To God
In regard to the
Spirit

They will have to
Give account to him
Who is ready to judge
The living and the dead


6. UNDER TRIAL

Blessed is the one
Who perseveres under trial
Because, having stood the test
That person will receive the crown of life

That the Lord
Has promised
To those
Who love him

When tempted, no one should say
“God is tempting me”
For God cannot be tempted by evil
Nor does he tempt anyone

But each person is tempted
When they are dragged away
By their own evil desire
And enticed

Then, after desire has conceived
It gives birth to sin

And sin, when it is full-grown
Gives birth to death


7. TEMPTED BEYOND

If you think you are standing firm
Be careful that you don’t fall!
No temptation has overtaken you
Except what is common to mankind

And God is faithful
He will not let you be tempted
Beyond what you can bear

If you think you are standing firm
Be careful that you don’t fall!
No temptation has overtaken you
Except what is common to mankind

When you are tempted
He will also provide a way out
So that you can endure it


8. SOUL AND BODY

Do not be afraid

Of those who kill the body
But cannot kill the soul

Do not be afraid

Of those who kill the body
But cannot kill the soul

Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy
Both soul and body in hell


9. ONE BODY

Do not think of yourself
More highly than you ought
But rather think of yourself
With sober judgment

In accordance with the faith
God has distributed
To each of you

We have different gifts
According to the grace
Given to each of us

For just as each of us
Has one body with many members
And these members do not all
Have the same function

So in Christ we, though many
Form one body
And each member belongs
To all the others

We have different gifts
According to the grace
Given to each of us


10. FAITH ALONE(?)

What good is it
My brothers and sisters
If someone claims to have faith
But has no deeds?

Can such faith save them?
Faith by itself
If it is not accompanied by action
Is dead

Show me your faith
Without deeds
And I will show you my faith
By my deeds

You believe that
There is one God
Good! Even the demons
Believe that – and shudder

A person is considered righteous
By what they do
And not by
Faith alone

As the body without the spirit
Is dead
So faith without deeds
Is dead


11. BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH

As for you, you were dead
In your transgressions and sins
In which you used to live
When you followed the ways

Of this world and of the ruler
Of the kingdom of the air
The spirit who is now at work
In those who are disobedient

All of us also lived among
Them at one time
Gratifying the cravings of our flesh
And following its desires and thoughts

Like the rest, we were by nature
Deserving of wrath
But because of his great love for us
God, who is rich in mercy
Made us alive with Christ
Even when we were dead
In transgressions

It is by grace you have been saved
And God raised us up with Christ
And seated us with him
In the heavenly realms

In order that in the coming ages
He might show the incomparable riches
Of his grace, expressed in his kindness
To us in Christ Jesus

For it is by grace
You have been saved through faith
And this is not from yourselves
It is the gift of God
Not by works
So that no one can boast

For we are God’s handiwork
Created in Christ Jesus
To do good works
Which God prepared
In advance for us to do